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Lesser Zeitgeists
Zeitgeists are echoes in the Astral of the intense focus and attention on some particular event. They are no more than tangles of thoughts, ideas, and emotions, but they developed into minds of their own, thoughts thinking about themselves. They are tightly connected to history, the worlds and peoples who first thought them, and can discuss little else. During a seance, participants can attempt to learn from them, but they are frustratingly inconsistent and incoherent. Thoughts may come from myriad languages, including those have been dead for ages—or even come from some other world entirely, completely foreign to you. The GM may allow skill checks to persuade a zeitgeist to be more helpful, or to parse the babbling and unknown languages, but this occurs solely at his discretion. Often times, the zeitgeists simply are not capable of communicating anything useful. Otherwise, the only useful thing to be done during a seance is for an empath to forge contracts with zeitgeists. Below are descriptions of what happens when one does. Zeitgeist Descriptions The introduction to zeitgeists is their name and epithet, along with a description of the zeitgeist and its origins. The descriptions vary from histories to quotes stated during or about the event. Associated Events: '''Each zeitgeist reflects a singular event, but history’s tendency to repeat itself reinforces and strengthens the zeitgeist when similar events occur. Sometimes, the zeitgeist does not even represent the first such event; some great development in an area subsumed any previous zeitgeist. Empaths may be able to learn of such events during seances, even from zeitgeists they do not or cannot contract with. '''Compulsion: '''Empaths contracted with the zeitgeist must obey this compulsion or risk psychic enervation. '''Goal: '''Zeitgeists whose goal an empath has completed also grant her a spirit surge as part of her contract. '''Seance Boon: '''An empaths gains this boon, applying her spirit bonus to a pair of skills, when she contracts with the zeitgeist. If she has the collective seance ability, the members of her collective also gain it, adding her spirit bonus to their skill checks. '''Spirit Power: '''An empath contracted with the zeitgeist gains this spirit power. The spirit powers of lesser zeitgeists are treated as lesser spirit powers, the spirit powers of intermediate zeitgeists are treated as intermediate spirit powers, and so on. '''Psionic Powers: '''An empath contracted with the zeitgeist treats these powers as powers known (excepting those above her maximum power level). '''Cogito, Sum of the First Thoughts The first minds grasped the meaning of the sensations they felt, and thrilled, and feared, and obsessed, and ignored. They explored, seeking new experiences. They shut themselves away, hiding from all sensation. They built themselves up from disparate streams of sensory information, all channeled through this new fantasy called ‘mind.’ The echoes of those first thoughts still ripple through the Astral Sea, having constructed a ‘mind’ of their own. Associated Events: '''The first metacognitive thoughts an independent, sapient creature has. '''Compulsion: '''Delight in novel and pleasant experiences, and shun the unpleasant known. '''Goal: '''Do something no one has ever done before. '''Seance Boon: '''Your spirit bonus applies on Bluff and Perception checks. '''Spirit Power: '''Whenever you anger a zeitgeist and would suffer psychic enervation, you may expend your psionic focus. If you do, you do not suffer psychic enervation until you regain psionic focus, at which point you immediately take its full effect. If you have more than one psionic focus (such as by the Deep Focus or Psicrystal Containment feats), you must expend all your psionic focuses to use this ability, and the psychic enervation takes effect as soon as you regain any. '''Psionic Powers 1st: Attraction – Subject has an attraction that you specify. 1st: Empty Mind – You gain +2 on Will saves until your next action. 1st: Synesthete – You receive one kind of sense when another sense is stimulated. 2nd: Aversion – Subject has aversion you specify. 3rd: False Sensory Input – Subject sees what isn’t there. Imperator, the Foundation of Civilization The name of the first civilization is lost to time; even Imperator itself seems not to know it. But every civilization brings minds together, allows them to work in concert. And all too many have gone too far, pressed its citizens into service and stripped them of individual choice and privacy. Associated Events: '''Coronations, elections, and the like. '''Compulsion: '''Always put others first. '''Goal: '''Convince someone else to join you in a major sacrifice that benefits neither of you directly. '''Seance Boon: '''Your spirit bonus applies on Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks. '''Spirit Power: '''You may increase the bonus you offer with the aid another action by your spirit bonus. If you are aiding the action of a member of your collective, you may use a spirit surge on the roll you aid as well. '''Psionic Powers 1st: Guidance of the Ancestors – Use the minds of spirits to make Knowledge checks untrained. 1st: Mindlink – You forge a limited mental bond with another creature. 1st: Skills as One – You and another share training in a skill. 2nd: Read Thoughts – Detect surface thoughts of creatures in range. 3rd: Eradicate Invisibility – Negate invisibility in 50-ft. burst. Ilkahvval, the First Elan “Learned creature, attend to me now. To those narcissistic things that dare to call me progenitor, it shall doubtless seem a betrayal that I have chosen you over such as they. However, though incorrect it would seem, we are flawed things, and the ark of my heritage must pass beyond our kind. As you have now passed beyond yours. Know, and endure, for it is the burden of eternity that I thee bestow. This is correct.” Associated Events: '''The creation of an elan. '''Compulsion: '''Earn all knowledge through reflection on its significance, painful though it may be. You must use Autohypnosis to memorize every new fact you come across. '''Goal: '''Learn a secret that had previously been known to only one being. '''Seance Bonus: '''Add spirit bonus on Autohypnosis and Knowledge (planes) checks. '''Spirit Power: '''You do not age for the duration of your contract with Ilkahvval, the First Elan. '''Psionic Powers 1st: Biofeedback – Gain DR 2/–. 1st: Fortify – Gain a +2 bonus on saving throws. 1st: Vigor – Gain 5 temporary hit points. 2nd: Sustenance – Go without food and water for one day. 3rd: Body Purification – Restore 2 points of ability damage. Little Dip o’ the Dops, an Education in Survival In ancient times, a tiny mouse in the desert mastered the discordant movements necessary to throw off its predators. And the primitive peoples of that desert saw, and learned, and survived. Learning from others had cemented itself as key to that survival. Associated Events: '''Observations of another creature’s behavior and learning from it. '''Compulsion: '''Never repeat oneself precisely. Even the slightest change gives life. '''Goal: '''Convince a lawful creature to reject law and embrace chaos. '''Seance Boon: '''Add spirit bonus on Escape Artist and Perform checks. '''Spirit Power: '''While you are psionically focused, you are imperceptible to tremorsense, just as an invisible creature is imperceptible to sight. '''Psionic Powers * 1st: Compression – You grow smaller. * 1st: Expansion – Become one size category larger. * 1st: Skate – Subject slides skillfully along the ground. * 2nd: Sidestep ''– Avoid a single melee attack. * '''3rd:' Physical Acceleration – You move faster, gain a +1 on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves. Obelisk, the First Monument “And on the pedestal these words appear: / ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' / Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away.” —Percy Bysshe Shelley Associated Events: 'Erecting a monument. '''Compulsion: '''Ensure all know of your triumphs. '''Goal: '''Create a lasting monument to your legacy. It must be something that can be expected to last centuries, at least, barring active destruction, and it must be in a public place where it will be seen. '''Seance Boon: '''Add spirit bonus on Disable Device and Knowledge (engineering) checks. '''Spirit Power: '''You can erect a small ectoplasmic totem in a square within 30 feet as a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Ectoplasmic effects created by your metacreativity powers (such as astral constructs or an ''ectoplasmic grapnel) do not count time spent within 60 feet of this totem towards their durations. The totem is small enough as to not hamper movement through its square, though a creature in the same square gains a +2 cover bonus to its AC and a +1 cover bonus on Reflex saves unless it would be denied its Dexterity bonus to AC. The totem itself has an AC of 10 plus your spirit bonus, hardness of 5 plus twice your spirit bonus, and hit points equal to 100 + 10 times your spirit bonus. It cannot be moved. When you create a totem, any existing totem you have created disappears. Otherwise, the totem lasts until your contract with Obelisk, the First Monument has ended. '''Psionic Powers * 1st: Astral Construct – Creates astral construct to fiht for you. * 1st: Ectoplasmic Creation – Creates one cloth or wood object. * 1st: Ecto Protection – An astral construct gains bonus against dismiss ectoplasm. * 2nd: Reconstruction ''– Repairs construct of 3d8 hit points +1 hp/level. * '''3rd:' Ectoplasmic Grapnel, Syonique's – Use a ray of ectoplasm to perform a variety of functions. Parasite, Memetic Virus An oddity even among zeitgeists, Parasite represents the spread of new ideas itself, rather than the spread of any particular idea. It converses almost entirely in cliches, catch phrases, and proverbs, and its powers revolve around aggressively forcing ideas out into the world. Associated Events: 'The spread of new phrases and cliches. '''Compulsion: '''Infect all with your ideas, your feelings, your thoughts. Never agree to disagree. '''Goal: '''Convince someone who had been indifferent or better towards you to start a fight with you. '''Seance Boon: '''Your spirit bonus applies on Bluff and Diplomacy checks. '''Spirit Power: '''Any creature that can understand language understands you when you speak or write, as if they were under the effect of a ''comprehend languages spell, but only regarding you. '''Psionic Powers * 1st: Déjà Vu – Your target repeats his last action. * 1st: Mind Thrust – Deal 1d10 damage. * 1st: Prescience, Offensive – Gain a +2 insight bonus on damage rolls. * 2nd: Id Insinuation – Swift tendrils of thought disrupt and confuse your target. * 3rd: Empathic Transfer, Hostile – Your touch transfers your hurt to another. Riastrad, the Last Stand Riastrad reflects the few against many, the band of brothers and sisters sacrificing themselves against impossible odds to protect their homes and families. It can, and will, describe at length the specific battle that it reflects, but it cannot give any context for it, and scholars have been unable to identify it. Indeed, some think it has not actually taken place yet, but is from the future— literally the very last stand that will ever be taken. Associated Events: '''Desperate battles where the defenders are badly outnumbered, but hold firm. '''Compulsion: '''Never abandon an ally. '''Goal: '''Save an ally by not retreating when you could, and be reduced to less than 0 or fewer hit points as a result. '''Seance Boon: '''Your spirit bonus applies on Intimidate and Knowledge (martial) checks. '''Spirit Power: '''The powers granted by Riastrad, the Last Stand, gain the network descriptor for you. If two members of your collective who are affected by any of these powers threaten the same target, they are considered to be flanking that target regardless of their positioning. '''Psionic Powers * 1st: Precognition, Defensive – Gain a +1 insight bonus to AC and saving throws. * 1st: Precognition, Offensive – Gain a +1 insight bonus on your attack rolls. * 1st: Precognition, Tactical – Gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your combat maneuvers. * 2nd: Coordinate as One – Shared perceptions improve offense or defense. * 3rd: Battlesense – Mental heads-up display allows for improved teamwork. Category:Source: Psionics Augmented: Occult